4 min readRanchiMay 11, 2023 04:10 AM IST First published on: May 11, 2023 at 04:10 AM IST
Keeping up his meetings with leaders of opposition parties in search of a non-BJP front before next year’s General Election, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met his Jharkhand counterpart, Hemant Soren, in Ranchi on Wednesday and said that their talks centred around giving shape to a united Opposition, and the result “will be visible in the Lok Sabha elections”.
Nitish, who was accompanied by Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, said, “We will oppose attempts by the Centre to make changes in history. We will also restore Hindu-Muslim unity.”
Addressing a joint media conference with Nitish and Tejashwi, Soren said that during the discussion a course of action was planned on the role of the Opposition. “We discussed how, as opposition leaders, we can bring about equality of thoughts within the Opposition (camp),” the JMM leader said.
In an effort to establish a common thread among the opposition parties, Nitish, who had met Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday, recounted that Bihar and Jharkhand were united once and Soren’s father — former Jharkhand CM Shibu Soren — had made him the chief minister for the first time, albeit for a few days. Recalling the JP movement of the 1970s, Nitish said RJD chief Lalu Prasad and he had worked together — and although they subsequently parted ways politically, he stressed: “We were once together”.
“The relationship between Jharkhand and Bihar will always remain good. We will work together for our states and also for the country,” the JD(U) chief said.
All the leaders he has met so far have have voiced their opinion in favour of the need for the Opposition to unite nationally so that there is no change in the “course of history”, Nitish said, alluding to the Opposition’s charge that the BJP-led Centre is rewriting history books to suit its agenda and ideology.
Stating that the media “know (all) this”, Nitish said, “They (media) had the freedom to report before, but today it (coverage) takes place in favour of one person and against the others (opposition leaders). This is a sad state of affairs, but we can say that united, we (Opposition) will not change the country’s history and not create any enmity between communities — whether between Hindus and Muslims or any other…. We all have to make the country progress.”
Taking on the Centre’s claims on “vikas” — development — across different sectors over the last few years, Nitish said, “Aaj kal ho raha hai kya vikas? Lekin charcha khoob ho rahi hai (is development taking place, but there is a lot of discussion on it)… and a lot of news is generated on some people…. They (the government and BJP) are celebrating 75 years of independence, but were they (the BJP and other fronts affiliated to the RSS) there in the struggle for Independence? Is anyone talking about the struggle during independence?”
